The Longest Day
by Halt's Apprentice
Summary: Exchange arrows for bullets, cloaks for camo, knives for guns, Araluen Ranger's For U.S. Army Rangers, and the result is a world at war.
1. Chapter 1

**Halt's Apprentice**

**IMPORTANT ANOUNCEMENT: I THANK CAPTAIN LINDSEY VERY MUCH FOR PUTTING THIS UP ON HER PROFILE. I FOUND OUT HOW TO PUT IT ON MINE THOUGH. I OWE HER MY ETERNAL GRATITUDE. THANK YOU CAPTAIN LINDSEY!  
**

**Anyway, this song is based in WWII. The attack is the battle of Omaha Beach. This is a songfic. It was an inspiration from listening to the song "The Longest Day" From the amazing band Iron Maiden. Anyway, I hope you like it and enjoy :P**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the amazing song or the book characters in this story nor do I even think of claiming them.**

*******

_In the gloom the gathering storm abates  
In the ships gimlet eyes await  
The call to arms to hammer at the gates  
To blow them wide throw evil to its fate_

Will, Horace, Gilan, Halt, and other soldiers were in the ships on there way to Omaha Beach. They had never been this terrified and, although Will did it with great reluctance, he started to express his gratitude to all his friends and, basically, his father.

"I couldn't ask for better friends. I don't know if we'll all make it out or not, but whether we do or not doesn't change the fact that, I love you all and if things go to hell in a hand basket, I'll see you all in heaven."

They were all truly touched by the words expressed by their friend. They knew he felt the same mind numbing fear they did.

"We all feel the same way, Will." Gilan responded.

_All summers long the drill to build the machine  
To turn men from flesh and blood to steel  
From paper soldiers to bodies on the beach  
From summer sands to Armageddon's reach_

They said all the prayers they knew. Knowing the coast was drawing closer. The guns. The death. The tears. The noise. The angst. It was in their future and they knew it.

_Overlord, your master not your god  
The enemy coast dawning gray with scud  
These wretched souls puking, shaking fear  
To take a bullet for those who sent them here_

They all clutched their M1 Garand's and Thompson's, waiting for the first few bullets to be fired.

_The world's alight, the cliffs erupt in flame  
No escape, remorseless shrapnel rains  
Drowning men no chance for a warriors fate  
A choking death, enter hell's gates!_

"Get your heads down!" Halt yelled as the turrets from the coast started firing.

Ships all around them were getting blown up and shot at. They held their guns harder than ever before.

_Sliding we go, only fear on our side  
To the edge of the wire  
And we rush with the tide  
All the water is red  
With the blood of the dead  
Although I'm still alive, pray to God I survive  
_  
"Move! Move!" Yelled Gilan.

It was so loud Will couldn't hear himself think. Not to mention how the tide almost drowned them. And the fact they all wanted to puke at the site of all the blood in the water wasn't helping their already sick stomachs. He saw cover and dove for it. They did much the same. Knowing that there was a bullet with their name on it if they didn't.

They all fought hard and valiantly. They weren't quite sure where to go or where to fire at. It was quite disorienting with all the noise and explosions, but somehow they found a way to find their targets.

Horace's heart nearly stopped when a bullet hit his helmet. Nobody seemed to notice, but he would have to be dead to not have. He found who he thought did it, and fired 5 rounds in his chest and heart area. Halt seeing this told him that if he did something as stupid and reckless he would kill him personally

After a few hours they decided to move up so they could get closer shots.

"Move on!" Halt yelled. As they ran across the line of fire a grenade went off near Will. Not close enough to harm him, but it was enough to cause that fear only the toughest and bravest of men could shake off.  
_  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through_

Will noticed soldiers were getting picked off from a certain point of the battlefield. He noticed snipers just to the northwest of them.

"Snipers over there!" He yelled.

Halt being the only surviving commander of the field informed them that they would throw all the grenades they had over their and to charge towards it. Telling them that once they did that they would start to see a small bit of the light that was at the end of the tunnel.

"Cover us when we charge!" Halt yelled at the group of soldiers next to them

_The rising dead, faces bloated torn  
They are relieved, the living wait their turn  
Your number's up, the bullet's got your name  
You still go on, to hell and back again_

They threw their grenades as they were told, and when the last went off they ran firing and screaming along the way. Those other soldiers were doing their job. They of course got a little fire but for the most part they were okay.

As expected there was a small group of reinforcements inside the hidden uphill trench in case the American forces caught on but they were no match for the group of soldiers as they tore the Nazi's limb from limb.

_Valhalla waits, Valkyries rise and fall  
The warrior tombs lie open for us all  
A ghostly hand reaches through the veil  
Blood and sand, we will prevail!_

Unexpectedly, there was about 10 Nazi's jumping from nowhere with knives. For the most part they blew them all away but from behind one of them grabbed Horace, kneed him in the back, and slit his throat.

It was as if time was in slow motion. Will heard Horace grunt and when he turned around he saw Horace being attacked.

Their hearts raced. They couldn't believe what had happened. Horace fell to his knees grabbing at his throat and making the unpleasant noise of him trying to breath but getting nothing but blood. As he fell, Will grabbed his Colt1911 and shot at the Nazi until all 8 rounds were gone.

"Horace! Horace!" They all exclaimed.

"I'll kill them all!" Will yelled running with his gun. Lucky for him Halt had the sense to stop him.

"Will! No! There's nothing we can do now. Horace is dead. We must face that fact."

"But I didn't want him to die! He wasn't supposed to! Why couldn't it have been me?!" Will sobbed as he slowly dropped to his knees.

"It's okay Will. He's in a better place now." Gilan said handing Will Horace's Dog Tag.

"What are we to tell Cassandra?" Will asked while Gilan gave him a hand up.

"Let's not worry about that right now. Let's worry about surviving this blood bath first. Then we can worry about the ride ho-"

Halt was stopped in his tracks as another one went charging at them. Will didn't find the sense in grabbing a gun though. He took care of the Nazi by his hands.

The Nazi slashed at Will but Will grabbed his hand as it went by, slammed it away from the Nazi, went behind, and strangled him to death.

Gilan and Halt, not knowing was was going on before it happened, did nothing but stare. They were amazing at how Will handled the situation.

"Looks like that hand to hand combat training wasn't as useless as once thought." Gilan said.

"No. Perhaps not." Will said gloomily.

They all took last glances at Horace. And muttered their goodbyes.

_***  
_

It was hours later and the battle was turning into blocking out the compassion in their hearts and killing all the remaining Nazi's that raised their hands in defeat.

_Sliding we go, only fear on our side  
To the edge of the wire  
And we rush with the tide  
All the water is red  
With the blood of the dead  
And though I'm still alive, I pray to God I survive_

It was night, and they were all drinking to the glorious victory they had won. Drinking to the victory, and mourning the dead at the same time. Halt went up to make a speech.

"My brothers: Today was a day of victory. Today was the day that we went against all odds. But we all very well know that fighting the impossible odds, meant many deaths to friends, brothers, and fathers alike. Although death isn't an easy thing, we must remember that those who died, died for freedom. For the loved ones back home. And for the future of America. And though they may not be drinking here with us tonight, rest assured, their deaths, will not go in vain. This victory, showed Hitler a little of what he was dealing with. He didn't know we were this strong and this determined. And so I say this: All the deaths today will be avenged, in the future victories, and the victory of World War II."

All the men cheered and drank.

Will and Gilan met up with Halt and they went to talk with Sargent Rodney and Sargent Arald, to mourn the loss of their friend.

_How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through  
How long on this longest day  
'Til we finally make it through_

***

**So I totally changed it and if you ask me, it's much better. Please review. It makes me think it wasn't good if I don't see many reviews. Please? It's the nice thing to do. Besides that it's a very easy thing to do.**

**Anyway, I once again solute all the soldiers who fought in the war and the ones who fight in the war right now. They're giving the ultimate sacrifice, and if you hate them you have problems. They're dying for you. If you don't even respect them all their work has gone in vain.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Halt's Apprentice**

**This is chapter 2 of my story. I hope everyone enjoys the, possibly boringness in this chapter, I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet. **

**For the record, this is a real battle, I just don't know which battle it is. All I know is that it's an _extremely_ fun battle on Battlefield 1942. So when I figure out I'll put that in here.**

**I know I've been lazy and have never done this so, better late than never: I do NOT own Ranger's Apprentice. But I can pretend. **

**

* * *

  
**

**Will POV:**

After possibly the most gruesome battle in history and most likely all the battles to come in the war, and burning the enemy's bodies, we set up our headquarters on the beach.

We had a few days of relaxation. Which, after a battle, is always heaven. But, no heaven on earth can last too long.

We had our orders to fight the good fight once again. God knows what's waiting for us there.

We were being sent further inland. It's going to be tough, but we'll win this war no matter what the cost. And that cost may be the cost of death.

Halt and I went to find Gilan so we could get going. And believe me, in a crowd of one hundred-seventy-five thousand troops it's hard to find one specific soldier.

"It's like finding a needle in a stack of needles isn't it?" I asked Halt as we looked around the crowd of soldiers chatting among themselves and doing paperwork.

"Yes. Maybe we should just see if he's around our tent. And if not, when we find him we'll throw him into the ocean." Halt said.

"So violent." I sighed in humor.

"Well, he should know better than to just leave without telling us."

We walked back to our tent which was by the cliff which had a beautiful view of the beach.

"You know, now that the blood, tank blocks, and bodies are gone, this beach is actually quite lovely." I said to Halt to pass the time.

"I don't appreciate beaches as much anymore." Halt replied with that never changing deep voice of his.

We finally got to the tent and, as sure as day, Gilan was on his cot inside the tent.

"Gilan, thank God you're here. You were going to be thrown into the ocean if not." I told him.

"The ocean you say? Whatever happened to pools and lakes?" Gilan asked mockingly.

"I figured being thrown in the ocean is better than a body bag." Halt answered.

"_Anyway,"_ I interrupted. "we have orders to go further inland with the Nazi's where we'll be safe." I told him while taking a seat on my cot.

"More heaven? Any specific place we're going or, are we just wondering around looking for trouble?" Gilan asked as he laid down and got comfortable.

Halt, getting a bit sick of all the sarcasm, decided to answer. "There's a bridge in the country. One side is Allied forces, and one Axis. But don't worry, we'll make sure we're right behind you when the bullets start flying." Halt said.

"Any armor or birds for us?" Gilan asked.

"Yes, we have both, but the Axis have King Tigers." That made Gilan open his eyes and look at Halt and I if we were serious.

"Please God tell me you're joking."

"No, I just said it because it sounds so lovely." Halt responded. "But don't worry, we have more birds and armor. But, those bastards could send in more teens."

"Just, please at least tell me there's going to be at least 100 troops coming with us." Gilan begged.

"1,000 troops and that's including armor and supplies." I answered. I was glad to see Gilan finally see some hope in this.

"How many troops are there for Allied and Axis forces?" Gilan asked.

There was a bit of silence, which Gilan did not like at all.

"We're going against the odds again aren't we?" Gilan asked.

"Afraid so. 1,500 Allied forces, and 3,000 Axis forces." I answered once again.

Gilan got this slight look of despair. "Again? We have plenty of troops here! We cannot spare more than 2,000?" He asked.

"Major Gordon is sending them somewhere else." Halt answered.

"He can't _possibly _be sending over 100,000 plus troops somewhere else can he?"

"They're going all over the place. Don't think they'll be in a group. Besides, he's giving us the toughest troops we have to offer here. Feel complimented. We were in that crew." Halt reassured him.

"Besides," I said with a smile. "These are fellow Army Rangers like us. We're the elite of the Army. The Axis have simple troops levied from towns." Then I was happy to see Gilan have a smile on his face.

"I suppose that we're not going to be thrown in the front. We'll be dive bombing from the back?" Gilan asked.

"Now you're getting it." I smiled.

* * *

We were riding on the back of one of the tanks headed towards this place, eating jerky and talking about nothing. It had been hours and hours since we set off our voyage at before dawn even, and we all had to look around like we meant business. You never know when there might be an ambush.

"There's an air strip for the planes that we'll be boarding tomorrow when we reach there. Oh, and they're bombers too so when we give them the signal they'll bomb the place and we'll come in to take care of the troops." Halt explained.

"I take it that they'll be aiming for the King Tigers?" Gilan asked.

"That's the plan. But you never know. Our birds may be getting shot out of the sky by the time we get there and it all depends on if they can distract the Axis planes long enough to pull it off." Halt answered.

"Well, at least we have the pleasure of knowing we may all go down in flames." I said.

"Exactly."

"You're spending too much time around us. You're getting too good at sarcasm." Gilan said.

"Blame yourselves..."

* * *

_The next day..._

We finally made it to the air strip and we were boarding all the planes. We're going to hit these guys and hard. When we parachute down a mile away from them, they'll be dead. And they won't even realize it.

"I'm excited!" I said with enthusiasm and a big grin on my face.

"You know, at home, we call you village idiots." Halt said. "And if I can recall, you weren't very excited about the last fight."

"What? I'm just excited that I get to use all the parachute training in good use. Besides, the only reason I wasn't excited last time is because I was going to be boated into certain death. This time though, I'll be parachuted into certain death." I said while nodding during the last words.

"We get to be shot out of the sky. _Hooray."_ Gilan said with a mocking voice while he said "Hooray"

"Better than being blown out of the water." Halt agreed with me. "At least we're trained in this field of work."

"And this time we're being fielded with BARS. (Which stands for Browning Automatic Rifle) My favorite gun. It can kill a man in a shot and it can go automatic if you want it to."

When I finished my sentence the plane started and before I knew it, we were heading down the runway.

I loved the feeling of being in the air. I hated piloting planes, but riding in them is so fun.

We softly lifted into the air. Which was immediately responded to by nearly all of us popping our ears. That was the only minus about being in the air. The pressure gets to you sometimes. But, it's not that bad considering the experience you get from it.

"Well, we should be there soon. Might as well get some rest." Halt said.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

"Will. Will. Will!" Gilan yelled trying to wake Will up. But he wasn't waking him up.

Halt acted all gentle while he got near Will's ear. "WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!" Will awoke immediately with a look of despair on his face.

"What?!" He asked and yelled at the same time.

"We're going to parachute down in about 10 minutes. Get stretched and get your gear on." Gilan answered.

"Okay." Will realized they probably had problems waking him. He slept like a rock and he knew it.

He stretched out his legs and arms while he tried to be more awake. He knew he wouldn't have to soon though. The air pressure will wake him up as he falls from the sky.

After he was done stretching he put his gear on and got his gun. Knowing they would go soon.

"Hey Will, you may live if you turn your parachute right-side up." Gilan said to me.

I looked confused and looked at my parachute. Apparently I still had a bit of sleep in me. So I put it on the right way and just sat idly by.

"I hope you don't forget how to pull the string on that thing." Halt told Will.

"Ha ha. Very funny."

Not too long we were told to get ready. The doors were opened and we looked at the green terrain which we would be landing on.

"GO GO GO!!!!" Halt yelled. We all jumped off and felt the immense pressure against our faces. We all looked at Halt because he would give us the signal to activate our parachutes.

Halt gave the signal by moving his hand and one by one we activated them, feeling the immense yank of the parachutes stopping our free fall.

We saw our destination and looked at the immense numbers. We also saw a dogfight going on with our planes and their planes. It looked like a wild-card game at the moment, but we couldn't pay attention to it anymore, we were about to land.

As we finally hit the ground we took off our parachutes and got ready for another bloody battle. It would surely be an interesting battle.

We immediately started for the enemy camp. And hope that our own forces don't mistake us for the enemy...

* * *

We got there and Halt called in the air strike. We watched as the bombers did what they were famed for. Annihilation. There were screams of terror as the Axis troops realized what was happening. The bombers could only do so much though. After they made their run it was up to us. And us alone, to win this battle.

After the run was over we moved in before the enemy could regroup. We saw a King Tiger and got two of our anti-tank troops to take it out. They both fired and we were happy as parts of it were blown everywhere. Especially the fact the shrapnel was hitting their own men.

We got behind cover and shot any place the enemy was.

There was an untouched building that needed some tending to. Halt ordered most of the men to stay outside and defend us while we went in. We all got ready as Halt was about to kick the door open. As he did we immediately popped some grenades in there and held our hands against our ears. After they went off we charged in there guns against our shoulders. We looked in there and saw dead bodies, and screaming survivors. There was an injured Nazi right beside me. He looked at me, P38 Walther in hand, hand shaking, and I shot him before he could try anything. Our orders were no survivors anyway.

We popped smoke and charged into the next room and shot those who opposed us. Two of our soldiers were killed during it, but that's the price we pay.

We didn't want to waste all of our grenades, so we just popped more smoke in the next and last room. This one had a large amount of men in it. Probably fifty against our thirty. We shot at them wildly as we used our BARS as spraying weapons. It was about that moment when I heard a grenade hit the ground right beside me.

"HIT THE DECK!" I yelled as we started running to the next room. About then of our soldiers didn't make it. Which only angered me. I reloaded my gun and screamed in there like a madman. The Nazi's were surprised by my charge and hit the floor unaware it was only me.

There wasn't many left so I easily handled them. I walked over to them and kicked them all to make sure there were no survivors. After I checked them all, I walked into the previous room with everyone looking at me in shock.

"What?" I asked a little defensive.

"Nothing! We were just a little surprised by your action is all..." Gilan said a little shocked.

"Well then, can't be late for the party can we?" I said as I started walking out of there.

We met up with the troops that were outside the building and started for the bridge. It was in sight and there were many troops there. We ran over and tossed grenades at them. They were blown in the air and most of them landed in the water.

We charged at the hundreds that still opposed us. Our soldiers on the other side saw what happened and fired at the remaining Nazi's as well.

The Nazi's knew their doom approached. Being outnumbered and enemy on both sides, some were already fleeing.

I ran out of ammo and used my Colt. But it only had 4 clips with it. Hopefully that would get me by.

Gilan, noticing this, told me to just stay in cover until it was over. But I'm stubborn.

I took some ammo from our dead soldiers and started shooting at them again. There were only about twenty left. They dropped their guns and held their hands in surrender. That wasn't going to cut it though. We blew them away. Ignoring their screams of fear.

The battle was finally over. We went on the other side of the bridge and met up with our forces.

"Hell of a battle huh Gilan?"

"Regretfully so." He answered.

"Alright, now that we've taken this place, I feel it is my duty to inform you all that when we get more reinforcements and supplies we're moving off." Halt announced.

"Great..." Gilan sighed.

* * *

**So, what'd ya think? I thought this had something missing in it. If you can please tell me what you thought was missing I'd appreciate. **

**And by the way, I tried HARD to not have any mistakes. So if there is at least one tell me. I wanna know how I'm progressing with writing.**

**And please, if you will, review:)  
**


End file.
